Saudi pushes equal pay at launch of women’s tennis finals
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced in April that Riyadh would host the next three editions of the tour finals...
Ten years from home World Cup, Saudi sizes up ‘huge challenge’
As the only bidder, Saudi Arabia was anointed host of the 2034 World Cup last October by FIFA. Infrastructure is...
Economy
Qatar’s glitzy World Cup is ready and expensive
The palm tree-styled street lamps and neon office blocks that line the highway from the expanded international airport to central...
- Gleaming new stadiums that cost more than $6.5 billion are ready, and a driver-less metro system with a price tag of $36 billion serves five of the eight venues
- FIFA has lauded Qatar's preparations and the eight stadiums designed to highlight Arabic tradition and culture
Analysis
Crypto betting sites on sports gain popularity as game prediction market grows across MENA
Crypto betting in sports has become a booming market due to the increasing number of sports fans and their desire...
- Crypto betting in sports has become a booming market due to the increasing number of sports fans and their desire to wager on athletes and tournaments
- There has been a rise in the number of betting sites accepting crypto and new blockchain-based betting sites
Qatar to host 2023 Asian Cup football: AFC
China in June 2019 won the bid to host the event but pulled out in May because of its "zero-Covid"...
- South Korea and Indonesia were the other two countries in the running after China's withdrawal, but Qatar got the nod
- AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said Qatar is ready to put on the event despite the short lead time to prepare
Business
World Cup boom pushes some Qatar residents out of homes
With the World Cup a few weeks away, and a million fans expected to descend on Doha, Qatari landlords are...
- FIFA recently released thousands of hotel rooms it had reserved, which experts have said could push prices of hotel rooms down in the coming weeks
- Some Doha residents are putting their flats and houses up for rent and fleeing Qatar for the month
Geostrategy
Qatar says over 1.5 million apply for compulsory World Cup pass
All travelers to Qatar will need the pass to enter from November 1, whether they intend to watch a game...
- Qatar has said it expects more than one million foreign visitors, as well as hundreds of thousands of domestic fans.
- The two international airports in Qatari capital will handle 150,000 entries a day during the football tournament that begins on November 20
Fans warned to be ready for World Cup queues
Private cars will be banned from many streets and residents near some stadiums will need permits to get to their...
- The gulf state of 2.9 million people will be the smallest to hold the World Cup that starts November 20
- Qatar has spent billions of dollars on a state-of-the-art driverless metro rail network that serves five of the eight stadiums
Business
LeBron’s 18-year-old son Bronny signs Nike endorsement deal
The younger James, who turned 18 last Thursday, is a guard at Sierra Canyon High School near Los Angeles while...
- LeBron James signed a lifetime Nike deal in 2015 after working with the shoemaker since his own days as an 18-year-old prep prospect
- Bronny James inked an NIL deal for name, image and likeness rights along with four other young basketball guards
She’s training men: Bahrain hoopster breaks the mould
It is unusual for a woman to rise to the top, and in the conservative Arab monarchies of the Gulf,...
- It is unusual for a woman to rise to the top, and in the conservative Arab monarchies of the Gulf, Reyadh's position is astounding
- Several countries in the region have sought to soften a hardline image in recent years, promoting women more in the workforce, the arts and in sport
Business
Qatar lures the rich with luxury World Cup
Those with bottomless budgets in the resource-rich region have attractive accommodation options too, with one third-party site offering $4,000-a-night hotel rooms...
- Stadium crowds will include Qatar's migrant laborers, who were offered some tickets at $11 to watch a sport whose players and core supporters are traditionally blue-collar
- United States, Britain, France, Mexico, China and India were among the countries where fans were showing most interest in packages for the UAE
Business
Sports become money-spinning enterprise for GCC
From Formula One racing to the football World Cup, the top-notch global sporting events are coming to Middle East, bringing...
- According to the World Trade Organization, the Middle East has the fastest-growing sports tourism market globally, currently worth an estimated US$600 billion
- Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki, Saudi minister of sports, stated last year that the sector's contribution to the GDP grew almost 160 percent in 2 years
Saudi pushes equal pay at launch of women’s tennis finals
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced in April that Riyadh would host the next three editions of the tour finals...
Company News
Latest News
Indonesia backs Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid
Last week, Indonesian FA president Erick Thohir had said the country was in talks with Australia for a possible joint 2034...
Economy
Middle East emerges as a global esports powerhouse
The Middle Eastern region, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is swiftly becoming a global esports hub, driven by...
Geostrategy
Women’s squad seeks its share of Saudi football boom
A FIFA+ documentary released last month tracks how the national team has seized on new freedoms, contrasting the hostility its...
Most Read
Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia beats Iran’s Nassaji with hat-trick in AFC Champions League
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal FC achieved an important victory over its Iranian host, Nasaji Mazandaran, with three...
- Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the first goal for Al-Hilal in the 18th minute, and Brazilian star Neymar Jr. netted in the 58th minute
- With this result, Al-Hilal raised its standing to share the top spot in Group 4 with Uzbekistan's Navbakhor, with four points each
Saudi-Iran club match axed amid row over slain commander’s statue
The Saudi state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel reported on Monday night that Ittihad had left Iran for Saudi Arabia. The dispute comes...
- An official with Saudi side Al Ittihad said a dispute arose after club administrators objected to a bust of Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020
- Soleimani commanded the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and remains a revered figure in Iran following his 2020 assassination
AlUla to host first-ever Mideast Tough Mudder Infinity Challenge in February
AlUla, Saudi Arabia – The world's most popular obstacle-course racing challenge, Tough Mudder, announced the launch of a Tough Mudder...
- During the eight-hour race, participants must accomplish the largest number of laps around the Tough Mudder obstacle course.
- In conjunction with the Tough Mudder Infinity competition, 5km and 10km Tough Mudder competition will be held